The Boston Bruins have engaged the NCAA free agent market, signing Notre Dame defenseman Drew Bavaro to a one-year entry-level contract, per Mark Divver with the New England Hockey Journal. Bavaro is signing as an undrafted free agent. Divver adds that the deal will begin next season, with Bavaro slated to join the AHL’s Providence Bruins on an amateur try-out for the rest of the season. This move comes after Notre Dame was eliminated from the postseason this weekend, after a 4-3 loss to the University of Michigan. Bavaro scored the first goal of that game, his 10th goal of the season.
This was Bavaro’s second season with the Fighting Irish, after spending his first two collegiate seasons at Bentley University. He proved effective at both schools, recording a collegiate-high 27 points in 36 games with Bentley during the 2021-22 season and totaling a combined 78 points in 124 NCAA games. He’s a very quick-moving defenseman, with sharp edgework and good all-direction speed. That helps him get involved in all three zones, and catch opponents flat-footed. But Bavaro will need to improve on consistently making the right decision with the puck and not getting pulled too far out of position. The right-shot defender spent portions of this season on the left-side, speaking to his adaptability.
Bavaro isn’t the first Notre Dame skater to sign an NHL deal, with Landon Slaggert signing his entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks quickly after the Fighting Irish’s season ended. Slaggert led Notre Dame in scoring this season, netting 20 goals and 31 points in 36 games. The Blackhawks drafted Slaggert in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft. He currently sits on Chicago’s NHL roster, likely to make his NHL debut soon.